Orientalism
Posted 24 April 2012
- Marcelle Ackein (1882-1952)
Passers-By - Oil on canvas
203 x 116 cm - Estimate: 100 000 - 150 000 €
A Collector’s Dream…
FIVE world records inside two years!(1) World leader in the field in 2011 with total sales of €5m! One of the most dynamic departments at Artcurial | Briest - Poulain - F. Tajan! And an upcoming sale with 10 works by Majorelle… Artcurial’s Orientalist department, launched four years ago by François Tajan and directed by Olivier Berman, continues to go from strength to strength.
The next sale will include 50 works, has an overall estimate of €3-4 million, and will showcase an ensemble of 10 paintings by Majorelle.
The sale consists of two separate catalogues:
Majorelle & His Contemporaries
Light of the Orient
consisting of several private collections
A Collector’s Dream!
Part one: Majorelle & His Contemporaries
Catalogue preface by Medhi Kotbi, President of the Moroccan National Museums Foundation
Presentation of the works by Jacques Majorelle by Félix Marcilhac
Prices for Jacques Majorelle continue to soar, with a world record €1,315,818 obtained by Artcurial | Briest - Poulain - F. Tajan on 9 June 2011. Artcurial’s next sale on 5 June 2012 features a series of 10 works by Jacques Majorelle, consigned exclusively from private collections, with estimates ranging from €20,000-€250,000. The works reflect the vast range of Majorelle’s work, both in terms of the techniques he used – gouache, oils and mixed media, sometimes with gold highlights – and subject-matter… from nudes to casbah and market scenes, in Marrakesh and elsewhere in Africa.
- Jacques Majorelle (1886-1962)
Casbah of Anemiter – Ounila Valley, Grand Atlas, 1921 - Mixed media on panel
47,5 x 59,5 cm - Estimate: 120 000 - 150 000 €
- Jacques Majorelle (1886-1962)
La belle Zorah - Mixed media with gold powder highlights on paper
54,5 x 72,5 cm - Estimate: 40 000 - 60 000 €
- Jacques Majorelle (1886-1962)
Market in Marrakesh, circa 1941 - Mixed media on card
81,5 x 104,5 cm - Estimate: 250 000 - 350 000 €
- Edy Legrand (1892-1970)
Woman in blue - Oil on isorel
130 x 100 cm - Estimate: 100 000 - 150 000 €
“The art of Marcelle Ackein (1882-1952) deserves to be rediscovered and enjoyed” – writes Serge Lemoine in the sale catalogue and in his blog
This talented female artist was born in Algiers and took part in the 1937 Exposition Universelle. She painted Passers-By (Les Passantes) in 1935, just when André Citroën’s African car rally the Croisière Noire, and the construction of the Colonial Museum in Paris, were helping to make Black Africa a popular subject among artists. Few works by Ackein are seen at auction; those that are invariably attain soaraway prices. Passers-By unquestionably counts as one of her masterpieces (estimate €100,000-150,000).
Prices for works by Edy-Legrand, a French artist who lived in Morocco, have continued to climb in recent years. Three of his works will be offered for sale, one with an estimate of €100,000-150,000.
Other stand-out works include a refined bronze by Anna Quinquaud, Femme Pita au Panier (est. €30,000-40,000), and The Fiancés by José Cruz Herrera (est. €60,000-80,000).
Part Two: Light of the Orient
Preface by Serge Lemoine, Former President of the Musée d’Orsay, Cultural & Scientific Advisor to Artcurial | Briest - Poulain - F. Tajan
The great Orientalist vogue that has fuelled the world art market in recent decades has seen burgeoning enthusiasm for paintings from Algeria. The collection of a couple of major connoisseurs, which focuses on Algeria, will therefore be eagerly awaited. Six emblematic works, with estimates running from €20,000 up to €220,000, will be available, with Bompard, Washington and Girardet among the artists.
Etienne Dinet, the French artist who converted to Islam in 1913 and became a naturalized Algerian, is sometimes considered the ’national painter’ of Algeria, where his works are cherished as “national treasures” The sale features two important Dinet works: Crossing the Oued (est. €300,000–400,000) and Hunter Beneath a Starry Sky (est. €250,000-300,000).
Meanwhile two works by the Austrian artist Rudolf Ernst evoke the subtle atmosphere of Turkish and Oriental interiors.
- Etienne Dinet (1861-1929)
Crossing the Oued - Oil on canvas
69 x 100 cm - Estimate: 300 000 - 400 000 €
- Etienne Dinet (1861-1929)
Hunter Beneath a Starry Sky - Oil on canvas
69 x 100 cm - Estimate: 250 000 - 300 000 €
- Maurice Bompard (1857-1936)
The River El-Kantara - Oil on canvas
89,5 x 116,5 cm - Estimate: 140 000 - 180 000 €
- Georges Washington (1827-1910)
Horses Bathing - Oil on canvas
101,5 x 140,5 cm - Estimate: 180 000 - 220 000 €
- Rudolf Ernst (1854-1932)
The Harem Favourite - Watercolour
61 x 42 cm - Estimate: 20 000 - 30 000 €
- Edouard Verschaffelt (1874-1955)
Algerian Beauty - Oil on canvas
88,5 x 74 cm - Estimate: 20 000 - 30 000 €
(1) Five World Records: Jacques Majorelle (€1,315,818) – José Cruz Herrera (€471,434) – Alexandre Roubtzoff (€434,300) – Edouard-Léon-Louis Edy-Legrand (€378,494) – Lucien Levy-Dhurmer (€297,000)
Sale infos
- Sale : 2176
- Location: Artcurial
- Date: 5 June 2012
Exhibition
- 3-4 June 2012, 11am-7pm
5 June 2012, 11am-5pm
- Artcurial
7 rond-point des Champs-Élysées
75008 Paris
Specialist Department
Specialist
- Olivier Berman
- Tél. +33 1 42 99 20 67
Contact
- Alexia de Cockborne
- Tél. +33 1 42 99 16 21
press contact
- Sylvie Lajotte-Robaglia, Art et Communication
- Tél.+33 6 72 59 57 34